Linda Kolman, center, is led out of the courtroom by family members on Tuesday after her ex-lover, Dr. Gilberto Nunez, was acquitted of killing her husband, Thomas.
Tania Barricklo — Daily Freeman

KINGSTON >> Kingston dentist Dr. Gilberto Nunez was found not guilty of second-degree murder Tuesday afternoon in the November 2011 death of his lover’s husband.

Nunez, who was accused of fatally poisoning Thomas Kolman, was convicted of two counts of possession of a forged instrument related to his false claims that he was a member of the CIA. But jurors hearing the case said they didn’t believe the prosecution proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Nunez killed the man who defense attorneys described as his best friend.

“We just didn’t feel there was enough evidence,” juror Fran Kwak said after court was adjourned Tuesday. “Not for the charge [of murder]. There was too many holes in the chain to knowingly convict for that one charge.”

Nunez, 49, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read in Ulster County Court about 2:10 p.m. but was red-faced and teary-eyed as he left the Uptown Kingston courthouse a short time later.

Nunez declined to comment about the verdict, as did his attorneys, Gerald Shargel and Evan Lipton.

Asked whether she had a comment about the verdict, visibly angered prosecutor Maryellen Albanese said, “I do not.” Albanese, an Orange County assistant district attorney, was assigned to be the special prosecutor in the case.

Kolman’s widow, Linda, broke out in tears at hearing the verdict. As she left the courtroom, she yelled “Sociopath!” “Psychotic!” and “Lying sack of sh-t!” and had to be restrained by family members and taken away.

Testimony in the trial began May 25 and ended last Thursday. The lawyers made their closing arguments Monday, and the jury began deliberating Monday afternoon.

The 12-member jury deliberated for about an hour-and-a-half Monday and again for a short time Tuesday, after hearing the readback of some testimony, before rendering its decision.

“It was a difficult case, but we took our time,” juror Joseph Dolan said.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” said juror Nick Bills. But he said he was “comfortable with the decision we made.”

Prosecutors alleged Nunez killed Kolman, a 44-year-old Saugerties resident, by giving him a cup of coffee laced with the medical sedative midazolam because he wanted Linda Kolman to himself. The defense said Nunez and Thomas Kolman were best friends and that the dentist had nothing to do with the death.

From the start of the trial, the prosecution said all it case was completely circumstantial and that it had no eyewitnesses or DNA evidence to link Nunez to Kolman’s death. The defense pointed to Kolman’s heart condition and sleep apnea as possible contributors to his death.

Linda Kolman found her husband dead on Nov. 29, 2011, in his parked car outside the Planet Fitness gym at Dena Marie Plaza in the town of Ulster. Prosecutors presented evidence that they said showed Nunez’s Nissan Pathfinder was at the plaza shortly before Thomas Kolman’s death.

Nunez wasn’t charged in the case until last October, nearly four years after Kolman’s death.

After deliberating for about 90 minutes Monday, jurors asked for the full autopsy report of medical examiner Dr. Michael Sikirica, the cross-examination of the toxicologist who tested Kolman’s blood and to testimony about an email from Thomas Kolman to his wife on Nov. 28, 2011, the day before Kolman’s death.

In the email, Kolman said he heard from Nunez that Linda did “great” working as Nunez’s assistant in his dental practice and that she could fill in as his assistant any time.

“The guy can’t live without you,” Thomas Kolman wrote to his wife.

Dr. Laura Labay, a forensic toxicologist with NMS Labs, who ran the toxicology tests on Thomas Kolman’s blood, said it would not be unusual to find caffeine in the blood of someone who has ingested caffeinated products and said there was no way of telling when the caffeine was ingested or whether it came from coffee or from another source. Labay also testified she was aware of one case in which a anesthetist nurse was suspected of abusing midazolam and said the amount of midazolam found in Kolman’s system would be consistent with a therapeutic dosage.

Nunez, a former Poughkeepsie resident whose dental practice is on Washington Avenue in Uptown Kingston, will remain free on the $1 million bail he posted in the murder case as he awaits sentencing for the forgery convictions — which could bring seven years in state prison — and awaits his trial on charges of grand larceny, insurance fraud, falsifying business records, perjury and making false statements in cases unrelated to Kolman’s death.

The forgery sentencing has been scheduled for Aug. 16 but could be delayed pending the outcome of the second trial. The date for that trial has not been set.

Nunez could have been sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison if he had been convicted of murder.

About the Author

Since 1990, Patricia R. Doxsey has been a reporter for the Freeman, covering politics, crime, and government affairs. Reach the author at pdoxsey@freemanonline.com
or follow Patricia R. on Twitter: @pattiatfreeman.